Log of s/v Bellerophon

Left Jamestown at 945 bound for Edgewood. Some storm cells showing up on radar so we may get a bit wet. Hard to say. Heard from Scott, he's north of Block bound for East Providence. He may pass us, or we may see him once we get home.

Here's Carol and Jim at the helm. Jim's the one in sunglasses.

We waited until the easterly kicked in around 10 and then set sail for open water, then Conanicut where we have a mooring for the night. The wind was wonderful, and we managed to hold a broad reach most of the way. When we hit Red 6 off of Beavertail we came to a close reach and blew right into Jamestown harbor. A little angst passing Castle Hill, but oh, what a sail in!

Here's Carol bundled up off Breton Reef. Not quite as hot down here as it is in the city.

Moored now in Jamestown, went ashore for some nachos and margaritas!

Arrived at 1 bell in the afternoon watch. Great sail down, nice northwesterly... then when we got to third beach, the temp dropped 15 degrees and the wind changed to SW. Go figure. Very nice down here, only a couple of boats. The beach isn't crowded at all. Water temp 60*. Brrr!

We got up at around 730 this morning, made coffee, and checked the forecast. Felt like a good day for 3rd beach. We motored into Mt Hope Bay and then picked up a great north westerly all the way. We were tempted to sail through the Hummocks but out of respect to traffic control we motor sailed.



Here's JIm at the helm.

Arrived at 730, immediately placed a call to Jim to add things to the shopping list. I dont think a few ounces of coffee will carry us through the next three days. Took the stove off the boat, sanded the top, and applied the first coat of stain. One more at 12ish, then a coat of polyurethane before bed.

Checked the coolant level, it looks completely normal. Gave the engine a test run the other night, seemed to perform perfectly. Everything else looks ship-shape for our first adventure.

Simple Pleasure is back in the water after a couple of seasons on the hard... just too much stuff to do... she's rocking gently in the next slip, ready for the trip.

The plan is to leave Friday the 25th as soon as Carol gets out of work. Our first stop is Potter Cove, where we'll anchor for the evening. Then we're off to Third Beach for Saturday night, then finally to the Kickamuit Sunday evening. Back to Edgewood on Monday, dodging the occasional thunderstorm. Pictures to follow shortly!

Lots and lots of updates, so little time to blog! We launched successfully two weeks ago. On the way out of Bullocks Cove, we realized that the engine was overheating. We immediately set sail and shut down the engine. (Yet another reminder that one should never leave the dock without sails ready to go.) We were able to deploy the staysail and cruise up the river at a comfortable 3 1/2 knots!

When we arrived at Edgewood, we did some investigating on the engine overheating problem. As near as we can figure out, when the yard changed the coolant pump over the winter, they didnt bleed the cooling system and an air pocket developed that prevented circulation. We ended up putting about 3/4 of a gallon of coolant in there. It appears to be keeping pressure, and the engine overheating problem has not returned -- though of course we have only run it at the dock!

The next weekend we cleaned up the boat and installed the new cockpit doors. They look great! Still a few adjustments to be made, but they are a definite improvement over those horrid washboards. A picture to follow as soon as possible.

We also refinished the captain's chair and the top of the reefer. We used a couple coats of Minwax and then a few coats of polyurethane sealer. They look pretty good! A bit of WD40 also helped the captain's chair rotate a little more freely, and we reinforced the chair (it was starting to split) with a couple of cross pieces screwed into the bottom.